Gadzooki

The myth of expensive HDMI cables

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hdmi.jpgThere has been a great debate regarding the use of generic cables and branded cables. Look at any online forum on speakers or audiophiles and you will always find long forum threads that just deals with this subject.

The contention about this topic is simple. There is a camp that says quality cables or wires produce better results. For example, better video quality (if you use video cables) or sonic characteristics (if for example, the topic are speaker wires). The opposing camp, on the other hand, contends that there really is no significant difference. A wire is a wire and all the talk about difference sonic characteristics or better overall quality when using very expensive cables is just marketing and BS at work.

I am on the fence on this matter. On the one hand, I do have a pair of expensive speaker wires on my HiFi setup. I did notice a slight difference in the quality of audio when I used the QED Silver 25th Anniversary Edition speaker wire compared to my old pair of generic coppper speaker wire. But then, I also use cheap speaker wires that I have used for my receiver – speaker connection and I also think the sonic quality sounds good. The same goes for the video cables that I have at home.

The debate has now entered the digital video domain. HDMI cables are still expensive but moreso the branded cables that are three to four times more expensive than generic cables. But according to exhaustive research done by the people at Gizmodo, the quality of the HDMI cables used does not significantly alter quality if used over short distances. The only time expensive cables *cough” Monster Cables *cough* actually showed any improvements over the generic cable is when the cable has to run through long distances of about 30 to 50 feet.

Since only a few people use projectors (these require the long cables to run between the receiver and the projector) then using generic HDMI cables is quite okay.

TV vs Games

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There’s a large number of high quality programmes now available on tv. Shows including Heroes, The Sopranos and The Office all provide fantastic (if edgy) entertainment. So, how do they stand up to games – the other pastime where you’re in front of the box? Well let’s look at a few areas of comparison:

Storyline
Games have traditionally had a very simple, very poor Aristotealean (and basic) narrative. TV on the other hand seems to be in a bit of a renaissance at the momement with layered, deep storylines offering much to the audience. Games such as Psychonauts, Half Life 2 and Neverwinter Nights 2 are giving more to the player of late, offering a better sense of their place in the virtual world.

Interactivity
Obviously games pip this one, as they are based on manipulating and interacting with things/objects/people/places within a virtual space. Even Pong followed this principle. Games are now rich and diverse, offering almost as many varied experiences as you can think of. TV is now offering, by comparison, much more interactivity. Let’s take a look at some ways in which it is doing so:

IPTV
IPTV is the latest buzz-word that’s going around, helped no doubt by Apple TV and all manner of things. Here in the UK Channel 4 has recently released an on-demand download service, so this looks to be really taking off. For those of you who aren’t sure what all the fuss is about, if you have a computer (or other sort of tech kit I’ll cover later) you can choose your own tv schedule by downloading what you want to watch, when you want to watch it.

GAMES
Games are now becoming more mainstream and in fact they’re being built into all manner of TV shows, ads and all sorts of things. Marketing campaigns are now converging across all platforms (TV and computer/internet) and games are a part of that strategy to suck people into the brand.

‘RED’ BUTTON
The ‘red’ button is now synonymous with Sky TV, at least over here in the UK. Essentially, you hit the button and you can be presented with all sort of interactive stuff – this could be a camera angle choice, a game or a new music video. All of this from a single button press. Impressive huh?

CAMERA SELECTION
We touched on this briefly in the last section, but Freeview here in the UK even allows you to change camera angles. This was most impressive during the Olympics when you could actually choose which sport to watch live. Never before has TV given the viewer EXACTLY what they want in this way.

DIGITAL TELETEXT
Teletext was almost a precursor to widespread Internet use over here in the UK. I’m not sure if it was ever apparent in the US but basically it is pages of text information, about whatever subject that the provider decided but commonly it was news, weather and tv. Digital teletext is a long overdue upgrade giving a wider selection of information, much faster speed and a more user-friendly interface.

TIVO/SKYPLUS
Tivo and Skyplus are pretty much the same service but for two separate countries. Basically, you can record your favourite shows and channels – or even set the box to record whenever a particular show is on. It is top notch kit and very much worth investing in.

So what does all this technology around the tv tell us? Well, as interactivity increases, we’re seeing the fact that power is now being put in the hands of the viewer. They are taking back the television. For that reason alone all of these developments are going completely in the right direction – and coupled with HD I think in a few years TV will go beyond even all of these to transcend and pre-empt the viewing choices of the audience behind the big (but thing) black box.

IPTV Will Change Everything

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In my view, this year’s CES is all about enabling pervasive content distribution. And the key to everyone’s strategy here, whether Microsoft (via XBox 360) or Apple (via Apple TV), is IPTV.

Let’s be clear. IPTV is disruptive technology. Seriously. There is no better example of what a disruptive technology would look like. This is VoIP multiplied by a million.

So what exactly is the big deal? Simply put: IPTV shakes video distribution to its core. It takes control away from the big cable companies. It makes entry into cable distribution much easier, increasing competition. It puts choice in the hands of consumers. It explodes constraints: limitless channels anyone?

At a basic level, IPTV is going to create a situation where consumers only pay for the channels they want to subscribe to. That means that the channels that survive will be the ones that people want.

Imagine this situation: ESPN is the dominant sports channel. Lots of guys currently pay $50 a month or more basically to get ESPN. Sure, lots of other channels come along with it, but who cares about those channels.

Ok. So with IPTV, if things go well, you’ll be able to choose ESPN and get rid of all the other channels you don’t want (Style?).

Well, let’s say that ESPN gets on its high-horses and starts pricing a monthly subscription to its channel for $35. That seems too high. IPTV makes it easy for a competitor sports channel to come along and charge $2/month or so, undercut ESPN and force ESPNs hand to lower their prices. This is quite different than the current cable situation, with limited channels, where entry into the market is EXTREMELY hard (witness the NFL Networks desperate attempts to get added this past season).

Just thinking about the possibilities makes me shiver with excitement. This is a whole new frontier and I’m glad that I’ll be able to witness it’s development.

In Defence of HD

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NEC_T2000_Plasma_TV.jpgFairly recently there’s been a huge boom in the television market. In particular, this has been in relation to flat screen technology such as DLP, Plasma and LCD. This boom has been driven by a consumer need for technology that offers better clarity, sound and image quality. The rise of DVD’s has also fuelled the purchase of home cinema systems. So where does HD fit in?

Well according to Sky UK I will be “wowed by the difference” when watching HD. Well, is this in fact the truth? Lets put this in some sort of personal perspective. About a year and a half ago I saw Monsters Inc running on one of the first HD screens in the UK that was commercially available. The quality was unparalleled. So why are people indifferent to HD when the quality is so noticeable?

The first point is that people may have not bought an HD enabled set when lat screens first became available. They may have paid a lot (as my folks did) for a TV that was new at the time, but obsolete in a couple of years due to not having the capacity for HD. Naturally, if you’d just paid £1,000 (or more likely more) on a television you’re not going to just nip out and buy another.

Another restriction to HD take-up is the amount of channels that are offering it at the moment. The BBC broadcast signal will go digital only, though this won’t have much of an impact on the quality of the picture overall, and there’s been difficulties rolling this out. HD seems to be faster yet still not widespread. Nonetheless, a growing number of channels are sending out the HD signal.

Finally there’s just so much technology about (with so much jargon, slang and corporate buzzwords) that it can be incredibly hard to make any sort of sensible choice. Quimby covered this very well in his recent article, and I’m in total agreement. Now we have HD, DVD, SA-CD, CD, VCD, HD-DVD, BLU-RAY and more I’m sure besides. This is not to mention ‘alternative’ kit such as Tivo. My oh my.

I genuinely think that there’s a market for new business in the form of a ‘Technologist’. Essentially you tell him what you need – whether it’s a TV, computer or toaster – and you give him a budget, and he tries to find you the best kit or advises you on the reason to hold back a month or two. Obviously he’d get a cut of the sale, say 10 percent or something. Then he could deal with all those acronyms and leave the rest of us to do the watching. Then again, being at the forefront of tech, I wouldn’t complain if I had that job…

Buying an HDTV: My Crazy Adventure & What I Learned

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So my wife and I promised each other not to go out on Black Friday. We didn’t.

But we did go out Black Saturday (errr… the day after Black Friday). Lately, I’ve been compulsive about getting a big screen TV. Actually, what I’ve been really compulsive about is getting a Wii. But since I couldn’t find a damned Wii anywhere, I opted for the big screen HDTV that I’d eventually play my Wii on.

So, on Saturday morning, we got our morning Ads (where we live, the newspaper delivers ads separate from the paper…wierd, I know). Those ads told me that I could finance my big screen TV at 0% interest for 18 months. That sounded tasty. Uh? Sounded tasty? You get the point.

Back when I first started my HDTV pursuit, I was committed to getting a 50 incher or better. This, in turn, convinced me that I would be getting a DLP. But to be honest, I just haven’t been very impressed with the DLP picture. Looks too grainy to me, even on the 1080p models. Plus, quick motion (the sort of motion I expect my Wii to have), didn’t look to hot.

Next, I got stuck on LCD because of a beautiful 40 inch Samsung 1080p I saw at BestBuy. Just absolutely shocking. Stunning. Aesthetic perfection. It was with this model in mind that we went out to compare prices around the various big box retailers. Suffice it to say, they were all sold out. December 5th the earliest delivery date.

But that didn’t work. You see, my wife and I had spent the last 3 hours carefully picking our favorite, most cost effective TV. We were ready to spend the cash. But no. We were supposed to go home empty?

Not us! My wife and I are fairly compulsive buyers. And we were determined to come home with an HDTV. So next, we decided on a 42 inch Samsung Plasma. Plasmas really do have the best picture and they are the best for video games. But they are also ultra sensitive and ultra heavy. We didn’t know that. So when we went to check out, they asked us if we wanted to pay the $85 delivery charge. Of course not. We wanted to go straight home and watch this sucker.

Well, then they told us that Plasmas can’t lay down on their sides. Too bad, because the 42 inch model wouldn’t fit into our SUV standing upright.

Blah! This really sucked. We were getting depressed and were about to call it quits, when we decided, once again, to go the LCD route. Well, we opted for a downgrade from the 40 inch 1080p Samsung to a 40 inch 720p Samsung. This time it was in stock. So we bought it.

Here are some things I learned in this crazy process:

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Shopping For High Definition TVs

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Samsung DLPI’m in the market for a big screen, high definition television. I’m committed to getting my TV by December 2006, just in time for the NFL playoffs.

Here’s what I’ve been learning. Specs are squat. You can read all the sales literature you want about picture quality, resolution, 720 this or 1080 that. But in the end, it all comes down to the quality of the picture.

You see, I’ve seen lower resolution 720p DLPs look better than high resolution 1080i LCDs. Even better, I’ve seen Samsung DLPs with a lower resolution look better than Toshiba DLPs at a higher resolution.

The moral of the story is that you should only use TV specs to narrow down the field. There are a few rules that you can follow. Choose DLP if the quality of picture and price of TV matter. Choose LCD or Plasma if you want lightweight, thin screen.

But don’t make your decision based on specs alone. I’m at a point where I’ve narrowed the field down to DLP. However, as I noticed, many DLPs with great specs don’t have a great picure. And in the end, it all comes down to how the TV will look in your living room. When you are watching the Super Bowl, the specs don’t matter anymore…you want the best looking HDTV picture you can get.

So do yourself a favor and don’t buy a TV off the internet without having seen the actual picture quality…because as I’ve discovered, the specs can be deceiving.

My Dream TV: A 62 inch Big-Screen Toshiba DLP

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Some of you might be underwhelmed with the TV that I have on my mind right now. No it’s not 103 inches. It’s not even plasma or lcd. But then again it’s also not $80,000.

Toshiba 62 inch DLP

The TV I have my eye on right now is the new 62 inch DLP from Toshiba. Before you question my choice, let me tell you a bit about the criteria I set for myself a while back.

Rule 1: Can’t spend more than $2000
Rule 2: Must be at least 50 inches
Rule 3: Must be highest quality picture currently available
Rule 4: Must be HD ready

So there you go: 4 rules. Now it turns out that Plasma and LCD are currently priced too high to meet rule 1 and 2 at the same time. DLP is really the only candidate. Plus, on rule 3, DLP still kicks the butt of Plasma and LCD with overall resolution, color and contrast.

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Games and TV

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My last post featured a link to Consolevania. Very simply, this is a live-action show featuring a bunch of amusing Glaswegian ladies and gents talking about games and occasionally partaking in a comedy sketch. As in Glasgow, Scotland. There may be some of you out there who can’t make out what on Earth they are saying, but if you bear with it, you’ll find that silly sketches aside, they actually have some very informative things to say about the industry and games in general. The only complaint I have is that there is not enough episodes!

This brings me to the real issue, and one of the reasons why I like Consolevania so much. Frankly, there is simply no coverage of computer and video games on UK TV. This is an utterly nonsensical state of affairs. I can’t think of an industry as big that receives as little coverage on tv, and in fact no coverage at all aimed at what is meant to be the largest demographic (of which I in fact fit into) – males aged in their mid to late twenties.

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Panasonic 103-inch Plasma TV Going On Sale

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103 inch plasmaFor a mere $50,000 you too can have a 103 inch plasma TV. Currently the world’s biggest flat panel TV, Panasonic’s 103 incher is set to go on sale in September…but only in Japan.

So, if the Americans or Brits out there want one, they’ll have to import. So add a couple more thousand to that $50,000 price if you’re an early adopter.

Hey, I want one, but that’s not $50,000 dollars worth of want. I guess I’ll have to wait for the 2nd generation (or maybe 3rd). Now, if only I earned, say $50,000 per month…then I just might be a first-gen adopter at 50 grand!

Happy Birthday, Cartoon Network

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ForeverGeek has an interesting writeup on Cartoon Network’s 15th (yes it’s been that long) anniversary. With quality issues in terms of creativity in shows and business acumen of the operators (outsourcing of animation and dubbing), Cartoon Network might be going the way of good TV gone bad (do I hear TechTV here?).

This October will be Cartoon Network’s 15th anniversary, and it is rather alarming the shape “Cartoon” Network is in. In only five years the network has disintegrated into everything that made MTV a laughing stock among music fans. Even more recent innovations in the network’s programming (Adult Swim) have deteriorated at light-speed thanks to lazy programming (12oz Mouse, Tom goes to the Mayor). Perhaps by Cartoon Network’s 20th anniversary, they will resemble the television powerhouse dedicated to preserving iconic animation they once were. However, if they’re anything like MTV, things are only going to get worse.

If you’re a lover of cartoons, you may agree or disagree with the author, as some comment-posters have. I know many geeks are likewise fond of Japanese animation, and would fight to the bone if any of their favourite Animes are regarded as poor substitute to American cartoons.

And for the fanboys (and girls) out there, here are some good reads suggested by the author, and some short comments.

  • Detective Comics #820: “Face the Face part 7” – Well, Batman’s first One Year Later arc is almost over (just one installment left). For the most part, this arc has just been a tour of Gotham City and the new Post-Crisis world Batman lives in. A few surprises in what villains survived, what villains didn’t and what aspects of Batman’s history were reintroduced.
  • 52 Week 5 – In this issue we get to see what happened to all those heroes who were stranded in space at the end of the Infinite Crisis. Most of the results were pretty gruesome, too. Think the “Amalgam” concept from the early 90’s only a little closer to the Megatron-Ratchet hybrid from Simon Furman’s Transformers comic.
  • The Punisher (Max) #34 – This volume of the Punisher has been nothing but a string of the most outrageously violent, vulgar and vicious acts of brutality any human being can possibly comprehend. And Ennis does it all with a disturbing sense of humor, too.